Wisconsin Needs your help

[goldlady]

Once again............who will be next?? Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources closing ALL lake and river bottoms to metal detecting.

Please read the article below, hope you will feel the need to take action as described below. Thanks, Goldlady


FMDAC Alert - Wisconsin Needs Your Help Today


> The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) last fall closed off
> ALL lake and river bottoms to metal detecting, and all state land without
> any public meetings or input. They just decided to shut it all down.
>
> I am Gene Scullion, president of the Four Lakes Metal Detector Club in
> Madison, WI, and our club decided to actively work to change this
> prohibition. We are also active members in the FMDAC and they are
> supporting our actions as well. We have worked very hard to raise money
> from our members and have been paying for a top-notch lobbyist. We now
> have legislation almost ready to be introduced (probably the beginning of
> November). If successful, it will allow us to regain water and land sites
> on Department of Natural Resources land and Stewardship land, with
> restrictions to protect sites of archeological or historical significance.
> We now need a lot of phone calls, emails and letters to state
> Representatives and Legislators to get the majority on our side. Right now
> we also need the committee leaders on our side as co-sponsors. If you are
> from Wisconsin, WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP NOW!
>
> How can you help if you live out of state? Tourism is big here in
> Wisconsin, so if you ever travel here on vacation and want to metal
> detect, or if you own vacation property here, contact the rep for that
> area and let him know your tourist dollars are due to your metal detecting
> hobby and you would like them to support Senator Kreitlow's recreational
> metal detecting rights bill. If you have friends/relatives here, contact
> them and ask them to help. If you are not sure which representative to
> call, there are instructions below (you only need to know the zip code of
> the area in question.) Out-of- state detectorists are more than welcome to
> respond to this.
>
> When communicating with legislators and their staff on this issue, please
> make it clear that you are a responsible metal detector and do not go out
> to loot Indian sites, historical sites etc and that the hobby is a
> responsible one that enjoys the great outdoors this way. The state
> archeologists are trying to make an argument the we all are in this for
> the money and are looting and selling Wisconsin's heritage and history; we
> know that is not true, but we need to convince legislators of that.
>
> Following is information from our Lobbyist, as to how to proceed, as well
> as a list of the committee leaders we need to reach. We need your help in
> getting their attention in a supportive way. If you want to help and would
> like further instruction, let me know. We could also use money to help pay
> our legal fees, donations gladly accepted.
>
> "Scully" Gene Scullion
>
> 608-213-6622 badgermd@tds.net
>
> If you do not already know who your own legislator is, you can go to the
> Capitol Strategies website at http://www.capitol-strategies.net , go to "Get
> Involved", and click on "Who Are My Legislators." Please make these
> contacts, it is very important that we start to get a strong groundswell
> on the issue and we need numbers, numbers, numbers!! Please do not think
> that everyone else will do it, we need your involvement!
>
> Phone Calls: Please call your legislators and the legislators on the
> attached committee lists to ask for their Support. If you don't have the
> comfort level of talking to the legislator or their staff, you can also
> call after hours and leave a message on voice mail. All you have to do is
> say:
>
> "Hi, this is ______________, and I am calling to ask
> Representative/Senator _________ to sign onto Senator Kreitlow's
> Recreational Metal Detecting Bill." They will probably ask for your name,
> address and phone number, which you should provide to them, you can then
> thank them and say you look forward to hearing from them. If you are
> leaving a voice mail, make sure to give your name, address and phone
> number along with the request to support Senator Kreitlow's Recreational
> Metal Detecting Bill. If you talk to staff in one of the committee members
> offices listed below, and they say that you should contact your own
> legislator, tell them you have/are but you are contacting them as a member
> of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Recreation and State Properties or
> the Senate Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural
> Resource (of course this will not apply if they are your legislator!)
>
> Emails: You can also send emails; put Recreational Metal Detecting Bill on
> the Reference line and in the body of the email say something to the
> effect of: Dear Representative/Senator _________ , please sign onto
> Senator Kreitlow's Recreational Metal Detecting Rights Bill. Make sure you
> include your name address and phone number. (if you make contact by email,
> please bcc me on the email and make sure it is a bcc and not a cc; my
> email address is amywinters@capitol-strategies.net).
>
> Also, if you would like to provide additional information on the issue,
> please keep it positive, such as "it is a way for you to get exercise and
> enjoy Wisconsin's great outdoors", "this would be a restoration of the
> ability to metal detect in state parks which was taken away by the DNR
> last fall with no public input." Please stay calm and professional in your
> communications, we definitely do not want to be perceived as an emotional
> reactionary group, but rather an articulate, responsible and mature
> recreational group. Never threaten to not vote for your legislator, say
> you won't come to the state to travel anymore, etc.
>
> We will be working on talking points for everyone to use, but at this
> point we would just like you to ask the legislators to sign on to the bill
> and make sure it is hitting their radar. We will be doing another round of
> communications after the bill is introduced and we have the bill number
> (Right now it is only referenced by a Legislative Reference Bureau draft
> number LRB 2682/4, which you can tell legislators if they ask for it).
>
> When the bill is introduced it will have both a Senate Bill number and an
> Assembly Bill number, it will then be referred to a standing committee in
> each house of the legislature. These committees will then schedule and
> hold public hearings on the bill, we will need a lot of bodies at those
> hearings and several who are willing to speak/testify. If you are willing
> to testify, please let us know and we will start to prepare you for that.
>
> Please do not hesitate to contact Jim Klein the FLMDC legislative liaison
> at jmklein@charter.net if you have any questions and he or I will get back
> to you right away. Thanks in advance for your attention to this and for
> your active involvement in getting this through the legislative process!
>
> Assembly Committee on Tourism, Recreation and State Properties (Wisconsin)
>
> Representative Terry Van Akkeren (Chair)
> Telephone (608) 266-0656 Or (888) 529-0026
> Email Rep.VanAkkeren@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Fred Clark (Vice-Chair)
> Telephone (608) 266-7746 Or (888) 534-0042
> Email Rep.Clark@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Marlin Schneider
> Telephone (608) 266-0215 Or (888) 529-0072
> Email Rep.Schneider@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Ann Hraychuck
> Telephone (608) 267-2365 Or (888) 529-0028
> Email Rep.Hraychuck@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Steve Hilgenberg
> Telephone (608) 266-7502 Or (888) 534-0051
> Email Rep.Hilgenberg@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Dean Kaufert
> Telephone (608) 266-5719 Or (888) 534-0055
> Email Rep.Kaufert@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Garey Bies
> Telephone (608) 266-5350
> Email Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Karl Van Roy
> Telephone (608) 266-0616 Or (888) 534-0090
> Email Rep.VanRoy@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Representative Mary Williams
> Telephone (608) 266-7506
> Email Rep.WilliamsM@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
>
> Senate Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural
> Resources
>
> Senator Jim Holperin (Chair)
> Telephone (608) 26 6-2509
> Email Sen.Holperin@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator Jim Sullivan
> Telephone (608) 266-2512 Or (866) 817-6061
> Email Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator Jeffrey Plale
> Telephone (608) 266-7505
> Email Sen.Plale@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator David Hansen
> Telephone (608) 266-5670 Or (866) 221-9395
> Email Sen.Hansen@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator Joseph Leibham
> Telephone (608) 266-2056 Or (888) 295-8750
> Email Sen.Leibham@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator Neal Kedzie
> Telephone (608) 266-2635
> Email Sen.Kedzie@legis.wisconsin.gov
>
> Senator Glenn Grothman
> Telephone (608) 266-7513 Or (800) 662-1227
> Email Sen.Grothman@legis.wisconsin.gov